James Suazo is Associate Director for Long Beach Forward where he oversees communications strategies while providing support to the organization’s multiple initiatives and campaigns. Long Beach Forward is a nonprofit whose vision is to create a healthy Long Beach so that race and income don’t determine one’s future. “…A community where everyone is safe, connected, and…
Melissa Morgan is an old friend of ours (Antonio Ruiz and Sumire Gant). We all worked together back in the mid-2000s on a project called ArtPeace. The project’s goal was to use art as a tool for young people to create and talk about Peace in their communities. Melissa currently works as a marketing manager…
Dr. Juan Benitez is the Executive Director of the Center for Community Engagement at California State University, Long Beach and an Associate Professor in the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies there. He also represents the Third District on the Long Beach Unified School Board. Dr. Benitez has a long history in education as both…
PalacioMagazine.com is being reimagined for 2019. It has been more than four years since I took over the reins of Palacio Magazine de Long Beach from my good friend and colleague Andrea Sulsona. For the previous five years to the handover, Andrea tirelessly published the only Long Beach-based bilingual magazine for the city’s Latino Community….
Stephanie Rivera, Diversity and Immigration Reporter at the Long Beach Post, became a journalist because she saw it as a middle ground between social justice activist and politician. “When I was growing up, social justice has always been part of my life. From my siblings, from my mom mostly. Just showing us how to stand-up…
The economic power of Long Beach Latinos was the focus of a summit at the Convention Center on November 13th. An estimated 150 Government, Nonprofit, and Educational leaders gathered for an in-depth presentation and discussion of the report “Long Beach Latino Economic Profile & Impact.” The summit was convened by a partnership of sponsoring groups…
Lionel Gonzalez knows firsthand the challenges that a young person faces. When he was in high school, he was labeled at risk. “In High School, I was put on probation because I was in a car accident and my best friend died…I ran a red light [and] I missed a whole year of school.” Lionel…
Steven Chaparro describes himself as a Storyteller and Strategist who helps “visionaries redesign the future.” If you think that might be a little heady, then you haven’t spent any time with Steven. He has a clear grasp of what it means and in no time, so will you. It is a skill and a passion…
Nancy Lynee Woo is a freelance writer, editor, and creative consultant, and organizer of creative events including community writing workshops and poetry series. She is also an incorrigible optimist and is not shy about admitting it and for good reason. (Her middle name is actually “Lynée” but WordPress won’t let me use it in SEO. My…
Gustavo Arellano “Comforts the Afflicted and Afflicts the Comfortable.” Arellano describes himself as “a Mexican with glasses con su pluma en su mano who writes pure DESMADRE about everything.” A writer, journalist, and editor, Gustavo Arellano is not afraid to use his pen to write sh*t about anything and anyone. His publisher, Simon & Schuster,…